Collingwood coach Craig McRae shot down suggestions his players had been told not to be in social pictures with possible trade target Bailey Smith as he outlined plans to replace defender Nathan Murphy after his forced medical retirement.
Western Bulldogs midfielder Smith, who won’t play in 2024 as he recovers from an ACL injury, has been linked to the Magpies having done some pre-season training in the US with Collingwood star Nick Daicos.
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Without suggesting whether his club were chasing Smith, McRae on Thursday denied officials had told players to tone done their online association with the Bulldogs gun.
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“There’s no one in the building that has suggested that is true,” the premiership-winning coach said.
“There’s no reason to think we would say that to our players.”
The Magpies will take on Port Adelaide fresh off a bye McRae said his team “needed more than we thought” after a heavy workload through the opening rounds that included three straight losses to start their premiership defence.
But with two wins on the trot, McRae was also buoyed by how “healthy” his squad was, with former captain Scott Pendlebury “hard to leave out” for the Port clash having recovered enough from broken ribs to train fully on Thursday morning.
McRae said the plan after returning from the short break was to get “energy” into the group, with a blockbuster Anzac Day clash with Essendon followed by a showdown with premiership contenders Carlton.
Collingwood’s own premiership campaign will push on without Murphy, who was ordered to retire by the AFL medical panel after months of him “exploring things and asking questions”.
While saddened by the decision, McRae said the club had been aware for some time it was likely and could look to the mid-season draft to find a replacement for the premiership-winning defender.
“We’ve been working through that the moment Murph wasn’t available for round zero,” he said.
“We’ve got some area on our list we are constantly evolving. We are not there and not finished and there are a lot of sleepless nights working out what the next move is.
“We’ve got what we’ve got and have to keep working with what we have.”
McRae said Murphy, who will have the final two years of his contract paid out, which could be worth as much as $1m, would not be “lost” to the club and officials were working through a potential ongoing role.
“This is something that has been stewing in the background for a while, so there wasn’t a sudden moment of shock,” McRae said.
“Anytime one of your valued players and cultural guys decides to walk away from the game, it’s difficult, you want to support the payer, love and support the player and his family, he’s not lost to us.
“We’d love to see him in and around the club for the next period. Whether it’s coaching or in another part of our club, it would be sad to lose him.”
